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Special – Dubai

This page consists of a research publication on physical socio-developments in the city of Dubai. The assignment started in May and is to be fully-completed in December 2008. The author of this weblog is the sole author of this assignment. The author is not a resident of Dubai or in any part of U.A.E. The author is not paid or affiliated to any organization in U.A.E. in producing any contents of this page. This page is merely a research-based publication by the author, in association with Skyscrapercity.com where the author is a real-estate commentator. All images are sourced, edited and are permitted to be republished here. Summarized acknowledgements will be provided in due course.

Artist impression of future World Financial City at Waterfront, Dubai.

THE DUBAI REVEALED
A special presentation by Malaysia City

Index – Components

A. Sheikh Zayed Downtown

Sheikh Zayed Road is currently home to most of Dubai’s skyscrapers including the landmark twin Emirates Tower, the forthcoming world’s tallest hotel – Rose Tower (72 storeys) and the forthcoming world’s tallest building – Burj Dubai (162 storeys). The road is part of the 550km E11 highway that streches from the the city of Abu Dhabi to Ras Al Khaimah, running parallel to UAE’s coastline along the Persian Gulf. The road connects all other major developments in Dubai, including the Dubai Marina and Waterfront. By next year, a rapid transit will run alongside the road. Major components along Sheikh Zayed include Downtown Burj Dubai, DIFC and DWTC.

Downtown Burj Dubai major components include Burj Dubai, Burj Dubai Lake, Burj Dubai Boulevard, The Address, The Old Town and The Dubai Mall. This area is often called the most prestigious squared kilometre on the planet. The Dubai Mall will be one of the world’s largest mall with 1,200 stores + 120 food outlets and a retail floor area of 12.1 million square foot. Featured attractions within the mall include the world’s largest gold souk (market) with 220 retailers, one of the world’s largest aquarium, the region’s first Sega indoor theme park, large ‘Fashion Island’ with over 70 flagship stores dedicated to haute couture, an indoor-outdoor streetscape with fully retractable roof called ‘The Grove’, an Olympic-sized ice skating rink, a children edu-tainment zone called ‘KidZania’, a 22-screen cineplex and a waterfront promenade with views of Burj Dubai, lake, waterfall and magical fountain. The mall will have the largest collection of world brands that would include Galeries Lafayette (Paris), Hamley’s (London), Bloomingdale’s, Barneys and Macy’s (New York).

Nearby is a financial free zone called DIFC, home to Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX). Further away are the current and future sites of Dubai World Trade Centre. More and more skyscrapers are being planned and constructed here every year making Sheikh Zayed Downtown a massive concrete jungle.
1. Sheikh Zayed Road
2. Downtown Burj Dubai
– Burj Dubai[www.burjdubai.com]
– Burj Dubai Lakeside + The Address
– The Dubai Mall[www.thedubaimall.com]
– The Old Town [www.theoldtown.ae]
3. Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) [www.difc.ae]
4. Dubai World Trade Centre

Buildings along Sheikh Zayed Road seen from the world's tallest, Burj Dubai.

Downtown Burj Dubai when fully completed.

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B. Business Bay – Dubai’s CBD-to-be

The Business Bay will be similar in nature to Manhattan or Ginza or Canary Wharf, which are the financial centers for the cities of New York, Tokyo and London. This visionary project is expected to be the cornerstone of the new economic role that the UAE is looking forward to play as a new, leading world financial hub. Situated next to Downtown Burj Dubai, on an area where Dubai Creek will be dredged and extended, the new ‘city within a city’ will have more than 230 commercial and residential high-rise buildings. The whole development has already started taking shape and Phase 1 is set to be completed as early as 2010.[www.businessbay.ae]

An artist impression of Business Bay, Dubai CBD-to-be.

The Dubai Signature Dancing Towers is the focal point of Business Bay.

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C. Dubai Marina

The first phase of Dubai Marina has been completed. On full completion, the entire marina will be the largest in the world. The focus of the marina is the large 3.5km central waterway outlined by a landscaped 11km promenade. The marina will contain over 200 high-rise buildings and 11 supertall skyscrapers have been confirmed to be built here, including the world’s tallest and second tallest residential tower and the world’s tallest hotel residences. Thus, this area (block) will be one of the tallest squared kilometre on the planet based on the average height of buildings. Dubai Promenade is a peninsular connected to the marina. Here, a wheel-shaped building housing a 5-star boutique hotel will most certainly be an iconic addition to the cityscape of Dubai.
1. Dubai Marina[www.dubaimarina.ae]
2. Dubai Promenade [www.dubaipromenade.ae]

Dubai Marina is a district in the heart of what has recently become known as New Dubai.

Home to more than 200 skyscrapers, including 7 supertalls standing adjacent to each other.

Dubai Marina on 13 October 2008. Photo by 234sale.

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D. Jumeirah Lake Towers

A total of 87 towers made up a new lakefront community, just across the Dubai Marina development. The focal point of this precinct will be its four winding man-made lakes and in the centre is the masterpiece Almas Tower, home to the world’s latest gold and diamond cutting and exchange centre and offices of Dubai’s commodities industries. The The Jumeirah Lake development will also be Dubai’s first mixed-use free zone area.1. Jumeirah Lake Towers[www.jumeirahlaketowers.ae]
2. Canal Point @ Jumeirah Lake Towers [Proposed

Almas Tower towering over part of Jumeirah Lake Towers. Photo captured in June 2008.

Views of Jumeirah Lake Towers and Dubai Marina. Photo captured in September 2008.

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E. Meydan-Godolphin River City

The Bu Kadra area, south of Dubai Creek, will see a horse-racing real estate mega project, called the Meydan City. The new city, covering over 43 million square feet will consist of commercial and residential plots, retail outlets and arcades with a spectacular canal waterfront and promenade. It will be a thriving community alongside the world-class 76 million square foot Meydan Racecourse (world’s largest), which will be the new home to the world famous Dubai World Cup horse-racing competition. Other components include the Racecourse Falcon Park ; Dubai Racing Club offices ; Meydan Marina ; Meydan Business Park ; Meydan Museum ; and a signature 5-star Meydan Hotel managed by luxury hospitality group, Banyan Tree.

Horse-racing at Meydan doesn’t stop there. A newly planned riverine city called Godolphin River City will attempt to merge sustainable ecological engineering with urban lifestyle sophistication. Being part of Meydan and conveniently located in the prime location of Nad Al Sheba, the massive riverfront development will host a number of landmarks including housing gardens ; Godolphin Business Park ; Godolphin Gateway Tower ; Godolphin Vision Tower ; Godolphin Crystal Towers ; and a linear mall that stretches 1.4km along the riverfront. The Godolphin RIver will flow beneath the Godolphn Gateway Tower, a 40-storey edifice that has an arch facade shaped like a horse head.
1. Meydan City + Meydan Racecourse [www.meydan.ae]
2. Godolphin River City [Proposed]

Artist renderings of Meydan Racecourse, Meydan City canals and the proposed Godolphin River City.

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F. Dubai Creek Developments

A massive mega project that would include 7 man-made islands known as The Lagoons, sometimes known as ‘The Seven Pearls’, which will host the curvy Dubai Signature Towers, Dubai Opera House and ‘6th Crossing’, the world’s longest arch bridge that has 12 lanes! The creek development will also see the integration of modern living, businesses and Dubai’s distinctive cultural aspects in newly built centres such as Dubai Culture Village. Landmarks to be built in the cultural zone includes the region’s first Palazzo Versace resort ; sculptured ‘Art Island’ ; D1 Tower (a replica of Q1 in Gold Coast, Australia) ; ‘Arabian House of Poetry’ ; an iconic structure home to the ‘Museum of Middle East Modern Art’ ; and the 27km long ‘The Universal Museums’ project at Shingadha.
1. The Lagoons + Dubai Opera House on Opera Island[www.lagoons.ae]2. Dubai Culture Village[www.culturevillage.ae]
3. Dubai Festival City [www.dubaifestivalcity.com]
4. Khor Dubai by Sama (27km)
5. Dubai Jewel (Jewel of the Creek)

Now known simply as ‘Waterfront’, it is expected to become the largest waterfront and urban development in the world. The project is a conglomeration of canals and artificial islands featuring the 75km ‘Arabian Canal’ that will run from the coast into the desert while the islands will add more than 70km to Dubai’s coastline. It will consist of 10 key precincts including Madinat Al Arab, which is expected to have a Manhattan’s density and thus becoming the new downtown and central business district of Dubai. The highlight of Waterfront City will most probably be Rem Koolhaas’s gargantuan 44-storey sphere known as the ‘Dubai Deathstar’. [www.waterfront.ae]1. Waterfront City (CBD island) and Madinat Al Arab (Phase 1)
2. Canal District (Phase 2)
3. Veneto, Badrah and Omran (Phase 3)

Artist impression of the ambitious 'Waterfront' project by Nakheel.

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H. Offshore Dubai

‘The Palm Trilogy’ means three times the innovation, ingenuity and ambition. Being the largest land reclamation projects in the world shaped like a giant palm tree, the three world’s largest artificial islands are The Palm Jumeirah, The Palm Jebel Ali and The Palm Deira. [www.thepalm.ae]

Launched in 2001,The Palm Jumeirah consists of a trunk, a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island larger than 800 football pitches that forms an 11km long breakwater. The crown is connected to the mainland by a 300-metre bridge and the crescent is connected to the top of the palm by a subsea tunnel. Touted to be the upcoming world’s premier resort and self-declared as ‘8th Wonder of the World’, Palm Jumeirah itself will double the length of the Dubai coastline. It will have a monorail running and about 30 world-class resorts opened by end of 2009, including The (Palm) Atlantis, The Taj Exotica Resort & Spa and Kempinski Emerald Palace. Later in 2008, the RMS Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner will be retired from active service and berthed at a pier here. It will then be transformed into a floating luxury hotel-cum-museum. A 62-storey stainless steel-glass claded, arch-like, diamond-shaped pinnacle hotel residences joint ventured with Donald Trump [www.trumpdubai.com] is also currently under-construction.

50% larger than Palm Jumeirah is The Palm Jebel Ali, located within the Waterfront. It will include iconic highrises, water homes built on stilts that spell out a poem written in Arabic by the Ruler of Dubai, long boardwalks, a city centre, six marinas, and four theme parks – collectively known as the ‘World of Discovery’, which is operated by Budweiser’s brewery that includes SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.

The vision does not stop there. It get’s crazier with The Palm Deira (and 4+1 Deira Islands) as it will be 7.5 times larger than Palm Jumeirah and 5 times larger than Palm Jebel Ali. It will be the largest man-made island in the world, equivalent to the land area of the capital of France – Paris! A staggering 1.14 billion cubic meters of sand will be reclaimed in its construction. When completed in 2015, it is expected to house more than 1 million people off Dubai’s coast.

Besides The Palm projects, The World is is a man-made archipelago of 300 islands constructed in the shape of a world map and located 4km off the coast of Dubai. It will add over 232km of new beachfront to Dubai’s coastline. The World is sold only by the developer’s invitation, many of which are sold to Western celebrities. Some of the islands are to be developed into exclusive private residences, others developed into resort clusters, private golf courses, private beaches, private harbors and marinas. The Coral Island in the North American region will be the first island to be developed by the developer. The World’s centrepiece is the ‘Centre Marina Village’ on Antartica Islands – a place where residents and guests can enjoy fine dining, premium retail, luxurious leisure facilities and a world-class marina. A centralised utility – power, water, reuse and sewage are to be connected through a network of underwater systems. The overall development cost of The World was estimated as US$14 billion. Amongst niche developments at The World are: [www.theworld.ae]

Studies are now underway for a new flagship development called The Universe, which will take shape off Dubai’s coastline close to The Palm Jumeirah stretching all the way to The Palm Deira bypassing The World. The initial design shows a cluster of man-made islands representing the Sun and planets of our solar system, including Pluto, as well as other space objects in our galaxy. The project is due for completion before 2030.

Dubai Maritime City

Located near Port Rashid,Dubai Maritime City will be the world’s largest maritime center. It will have the world’s first ever purpose-built maritime cluster, consisting of maritime-related industries, shipyards and dockyards, warehouses, corporate parks, harborside homes, marinas and leisure complexes. [www.dubaimaritimecity.com]
1. The Palm Jumeirah
2. The Palm Jebel Ali
3. The Palm Deira
4. The World
5. The Universe [Proposed]
6. Dubai Maritime City (Port Rashid Redevelopment)

Modern wonders of the world by Nakheel in the making at Dubai.

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I. Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens City

Announced in 2008, it is a massive “green city” initiative by Dubai costing over US$60 billion and spreading across 880 million square feet of desert land, that will become one of the world’s most spectacular urban developments when fully completed before 2017. With about 70% greenery, the new city will incorporate new homes, outstanding educational, financial and commercial facilities, iconic civic buildings and tourist landmarks. Threading them together is more landscaped parklands than can be found in London and New York combined. It will be 9 times larger than Garden Hyde Park in London and 7 times compared to Central Park in New York.

Arranged around the city are four clusters, or ‘houses’ that will host world-class facilities in their respective fields:

1. The House of Humanity
– Includes quarters for charitable organizations, including the Ruler of Dubai’s own Humanitarian and Charity Establishments, House of Giving, Museum of Light, along with museums encompassing the themes of human civilization.

[Image coming soon]

2. The House of Commerce– The towers and office blocks of The House of Commerce will be occupied by large multi-national firms, finance-related and insurance of both Islamic and international banks and international educational providers specializing in financial sciences.

House of Commerce, MBR Gardens Dubai

3. The House of Wisdom
– Includes translation facilities, a grand library – The Dubai Central Library, knowledge garden, international universities, colleges of history and science and the grand Sheikh Mohammed Mosque, together with offices for a number of international academic organizations. A special project within this zone is a garden astronomical consisting of 12 astronomical towers reflecting the accomplishments achieved by the Middle East in the field of astronomy and science.

House of Wisdom, The Perisphere and Trilon, MBR Gardens Dubai

4. The House of Nature
– Dedicated to the environment with family parks, international themed and zoological gardens, hotels, recreational and sporting clubs, alternative medical and herbal clinics and premises for laboratories and institutions all specializing in conservation and the natural sciences. There will be the world’s largest zoo and a safari park as well.

House of Nature, MBR Gardens Dubai

The masterplan of MBR includes iconic landmarks such as:… —-[Under costruction]

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J. Jumeriah Gardens City – The Venice of the Middle East

Jumeirah Gardens City will have several iconic supertall structures.

Massive redevelopment of Satwa and Al Wasl neighbourhoods, just behind Sheikh Zayed Road, near Burj Dubai. Private homes standing today will be demolished to make way for a new waterway community.

Jumeirah Gardens City will host several iconic structures of exceptional character that will set new standards of beauty and functionality. They include:
(a) One Dubai –> This will be one of the tallest and largest buildings in the world, a mega-structure consisting of three linked towers of staggered heights, with mosaic-like glass and aluminium-mesh cladding.
(b) One Park Avenue –> This 600,000-square-metre tower, whose undulating form is a tribute to Dubai’s historic relationship with the Gulf, will be a marvel of 21st-century technology and sustainable design.
(c) Park Gate –> This project comprises six paired towers, each 30 to 40 storeys high, with the three pairs of towers forming a grand entrance leading into Dubai Park.

(d) Meraas Tower –>

More information will be released in conjunction with Cityscape Exhibition Dubai 6 – 9 October 2008. For more eye-catching clips, click Jumeirah Gardens City.

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K. Dubai World Central

Dubai World Central is a US$30 billion project that will include a new international gateway for Dubai called Al Maktoum International Airport – which will be the world’s largest passenger and cargo hub capable of handling in excess of 120 million passengers annually and over 12 million tonnes of cargo a year. The airport will be 10 times the size of the current Dubai International Airport and Dubai Cargo Village combined, will have six parallel runways and as many concourses with a 91 metre high control tower that will be an aviation landmark and tallest freestanding air-traffic control tower in the Middle East.

More information coming soon…

Dubai World Central, Dubai's future aviation-related city

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L. Arabian Canal City

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K. DubaiLand

The DubaiLand project was officially announced on 23 October 2003. DubaiLand will be built on a 3 billion square foot (278 km²/107 mile²) site and will include over 45 mega projects and 200 sub projects. To date, there are currently 22 projects under development. It will be twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida USA, currently the largest collection of amusement parks in the world.

Dubai Sports City is the world’s first purpose-built sports city. The city will consist of apartment buildings as well as dozens of world-class sports facilities including 4 main stadiums. The city will host the world’s first Manchester United Soccer School, International Cricket Council’s (ICC) own Global Cricket Academy, a David Lloyd Tennis Academy, the first Butch Harmon School of Golf outside the United States and an 18-hole gold course designed by Ernie Els. Once fully completed in 2010, the city has been rumoured to bid for a future Summer Olympics.

The 20 million square foot City of Arabia development will be the gateway to DubaiLand. It will have 3 major sub-components: (i) Mall of Arabia –> will be the world’s largest mall with 10 million square foot and over 1,000 retail stores; (ii) Restless Planet –> Jurassic-era (dinosaur) themed park featuring more than 100 animatronic dinosaur and volcano replicas in a lifelike environment, recreating the sights and sounds of 1 million B.C. This ambitious project is planned by a team of experts including The British Natural History Museum, Jack Horner and Kokoro; and (iii) Wadi Walk –> the heart of DubaiLand will be an innovative centre for retail and family entertainment and dining, featuring wide boulevards, street cafés, lush parklands and gardens.

Yup, amazing structures … but that is not what gives a city a “soul” … Dubai lacks this panache / soul / sense of culture, and no amount of grandiose building will give Dubai that.

What do I mean … Paris for example. It’s only global iconic structure is the Eiffel Tower (apart from other structures – Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Arc d’Triomphe etc.) Paris has romanticism, beauty and a vibrant “culture” – a soul, that Dubai for all its cash, will never have.

Please, please, please Malaysia … do not go down the route of Dubai … you have the Petronas Towers and that is a classic building based on Islamic architectural principles and designs. KL thrives on its culture, and that is fabulous!!!

I am excited that I discovered your blog . I look forward to getting to know more about you.🙂 I work with a Land Auction company in Alabama. Check out my link. I am always looking to expand my network. Thanks again!

Hi all I like the what Dubai is doing building a modern city that will draw people here. That be great what they choose to do is something make the world happy and bring the city laws like north america citys. If Malaysia wants to build a city is one good thing that you have piece who can make a better city kepps us happy.